Star Wars: Grim Fate
by Mikky Rowe
Summary: Jedi Master Korben Loc and his padawan apprentice, Sylvi Si'Fei, have been sent to execute a critical mission. What they do not yet know is that their trail has been followed all along by the powerful Sith known as Darth Raj, who already shares a complicated history with Master Korben.
1. Chapter 1, Hidden Destination

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

A mysterious force relic was discovered by a team of Republican archaeologists, working on the planet Krathoz. The Jedi researched the artefact as thoroughly as they could, but its true purpose remained elusive to them. Meanwhile, the Sith made several failed attempts to steal the item, which prompted the Jedi Counsel to hide it in a secure location, known only to a few trusted Jedi Masters.

Only recently, loyal agents of the Republic have finally managed to find out what the enemy knows about the nefarious thing, and the terrible effect it could have in their possession. In addition, they also uncovered an elaborate plot aimed at the Jedi Council itself in order to lay claim to it. A plan that has already been set in motion.

In order to prevent certain disaster, the Krathoz relic needs to be destroyed, quickly and covertly.

Jedi Master Korben Loc and his padawan apprentice, Sylvi Si'Fei, have been sent to execute this critical mission. What they do not yet know is that their trail has been followed by the powerful Sith known as Darth Raj, who already shares a complicated history with Master Korben.

* * *

The Defender-class starship came to a sudden halt as it exited hyperspace. Monitors flickered back to life, filling the dim cockpit with new artificial lights. Streams of data scrolled by on the screens, relaying updated ship's diagnostics, schematics and other general information. The main hologram projectors lit up as well. A holographic map of the galaxy, complete with a detailed model of the spaceship, emanated from the panel separating the two pilot seats.

' _Autopilot engaged, calculating new route to target coordinates,_ ' chimed a mechanical voice.

No damage. All systems green. It was as if all of the different ship-components were racing each other to tell the two human beings in their care that everything was well, and that they had arrived safely to the specified location.

One of those humans, the male, sat still and silent in his chair. His back was straight, hands cupped and resting in his lap. The man was facing forward with his eyes closed, deep in meditation. He had been sitting in that exact position for the whole voyage, with a serious expression on his face. Jedi Master Korben Loc was, as far as outward appearances go, a normal man in his mid-thirties, of average height and build.

The young woman who sat cross-legged in the captain's seat next to him, playing with the thin braid behind her right ear, knew that beyond physical appearances there was nothing average or normal about this man at all. Not only was he a very powerful force user and a skilled fighter, but he also had a great mind and a humble personality to go with it. For his age he was one of the most successful and decorated Jedi in the galaxy, and one of the youngest ever to reach the title of Master.

Sylvi Si'Fei admired him greatly. She had done so ever since she first met him as a youngling attending his classes. His lectures had always been her favourite ones. She had done very well in them too, despite not being much of a scholar. Regardless of the subject, Master Korben just had a certain way of bringing things to life in her mind like no other teacher quite could.

She hadn't been the only person with that sentiment among his students, of course. It had taken all of her effort in order to stand out, to get noticed by him. Her diligence back then had certainly paid off. After a decisive victory in the finals of a prestigious lightsaber duel during the annual apprentice tournaments back on Coruscant, he had finally approached and asked to train her as his new padawan apprentice.

That was several years ago now, but it still felt almost unreal to her. Sylvi remembered the nervous stuttering she had while making her vow before the Council, with Korben there at her side. A memory that was so precious to her. The fluttering feelings it summoned in her belly were still as vivid as ever.

Sylvi smiled at the recollection of those early days as she observed her restful mentor. Korben looked so serene, sitting there in his meditative state. As magnificent as one of the ancient marble statues in the Jedi Academy's great halls. It was one of his greatest strengths, to be able to slip into a deep trance so easily. To commune with the force in such an intimate way.

She sat watching him, so lost in her own thoughts that even the gentle sound of Korben's voice breaking the silence managed to startle her. 'Are you spacing out again?' he asked.

Sylvi returned to reality in a heart-beat, as if she had just come out of her own personal hyperspace as well. 'What? No! I was just…' she began, but regretted denying the obvious truth. She had indeed spaced out. Again? Surely it didn't happen that often.

Sylvi adjusted her position in the seat and planted her bare feet on the floor, where they perhaps should have been all along. She took hold of the controls to the ship and disconnected the autopilot, for the first time noticing the new information relayed on the displays.

'It seems that we've arrived to the star-system,' she informed her teacher as she fiddled with various buttons and switches, piloting them towards their final destination.

'I did notice us dropping out of hyperspace, you know,' Korben responded with a tiny smirk at the edge of his lips, causing Sylvi another split-second loss of attention. 'Focus on the task at hand, my young padawan. We're here to do an important job. Please pay attention.'

There was no harshness or rebuke in his voice, but Sylvi could feel her cheeks heating up regardless. 'Yes, master,' she replied, followed by a nearly inaudible; 'Sorry, master.'

She returned her attention to the holographic map, indicating their current position in the galaxy. The new information revealed there told her that they were in a nondescript star-system located somewhere in the Outer Rim. The system had only one sun, orbited by four inner rocky planets and four bigger gas giants further out. Their trajectory would bring them close to one of those gas giants very soon. All rocky bodies in the system were marked as unexplored and outside of the galactic civilisation's influence. Population was marked as zero.

'What's so bloody important about this place, then?' she blurted out with an impatient tone to her voice. She hadn't meant to sound so annoyed, but this whole mission was just so perplexing.

They had travelled from system to system in a completely nonsensical pattern for more than two standard weeks now, changing ships or mode of transport several times along the way. All the while Korben had offered nothing by way of explanation or insight. The true purpose of it all remained a mystery.

Sylvi cast a nervous glance at her teacher, who sat as inert as before. 'And who are we trying to shake, anyway?' she added in an effort not to seem completely daft. There was definitely an element of stealth to this quest.

She didn't get an answer.

She hadn't really expect one. None had been forthcoming all of the other times she had asked during this strange trip. They had apparently reached the end destination, though. Korben had said as much himself, before they made the previous jump to hyperspace. Sylvi felt that she could afford to press the issue. 'What could I possibly learn from all of this if I don't even know what's going on?' she asked.

Still nothing.

'I mean; I want to be useful to you. Don't you trust me?' she continued. As the words left her mouth she pulled a hand through her short-cropped hair and risked another careful glance over at the Jedi Master. His eyes were open now, watching the yellow and ringed gas-giant go by outside the ship's windows. A troubled frown was visible on his brow and Sylvi felt a cold sweat coming on. Had she displeased him somehow? If this was some kind of elaborate test of her patience, she had definitely failed it miserably.

How would she fix this? Maybe if she tried to stay really quiet the rest of the way? Her mind worked hurriedly to come up with some way of regaining Korben's favour, but his next words dispersed the worried miasma clouding her thoughts. 'It's not that I don't trust you,' he said. There was a thoughtful pause. 'I do. Completely.' Sylvi recognised the distinct punctuation in his voice, meaning that this conversation was over. So she let it go for now.

They travelled in silence for a while, aiming for the third planet from the sun, right in the middle of the system's habitable zone. They approached from the night-side of the planet, and as they got closer Sylvi noticed something odd. 'Didn't the records say that all planets in this system were unexplored and unpopulated? Those are artificial lights, for sure!' she exclaimed. Sylvi tapped on the holographic panel and brought back the map information for reference. She was indeed right. 'Have we discovered an entirely new civilisation!?' she beamed over at Korben, rekindled excitement in her voice.

Korben didn't look back at her. His gaze was fixed on the approaching planet. 'No,' he replied.

Sylvi didn't understand. If they had already been discovered, then they would surely be in the databases. That was sort of the point of them to begin with, to keep track of the vast number of inhabited worlds spread throughout the galaxy.

She opened her mouth to ask him this, but Korben must have noticed her confusion. His answer came before the question was even spoken out loud. 'They were found decades ago, but have been kept in hiding for the greater good of the Republic. As far as the galaxy is concerned they don't exist. And to them, they're the only known intelligent life-form in existence.' Korben sighed and shook his head. 'Now, please activate the ship's cloaking,' he added.

As she did so, the scope of what Korben had just explained dawned on her. 'The Jedi Counsel hid an entire star-system? Why?!' Sylvi asked.

'To better hide the object that was hidden in it,' Korben replied in a serious voice.

Sylvi wanted to ask more, but judging by Korben's curt answer, he was clearly fazed by something. Instead she focused on their descent into the atmosphere.

After a while her teacher spoke up again. 'I suppose that I should brief you on the mission now,' he said. 'I'm very sorry for all of the secrecy, you must've been quite frustrated.' Sylvi flashed her teacher an exasperated look, to let him know that he was on to something. Korben smiled back at her in return. 'Our mission here is to retrieve a very dangerous Sith artefact that was hidden away by the Jedi Counsel long ago, before they knew what it really was. Then we must destroy it,' he said.

Silence.

Sylvi waited for Korben to say something else, to explain what the complication was. He said nothing else. Was that it, then? 'Alright. That sounds simple enough. We just land nearby, find the thing and then slash it apart,' she said. 'But why didn't they just hide it on some rock in space? Why all of this shady business?' she asked.

'This is an object of the force, Sylvi. It's like a living being, and living things stand out among barren rocks floating in space,' Korben explained.

'Oh, right…' she said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

'Hiding it among unknowing sentient beings is masking its presence. Hiding the whole civilization as well reduces the risk of it being found by accident,' Korben said. 'And we can't just slash it apart, unfortunately. The dark side of the force protects it. The only certain way of destroying the thing is to plunge it into a star, where no one can get to it.'

Korben frowned again and fiddled with the controls on his side of the cockpit.

'I hope that it will be as easy as just picking it up and leaving again, but I've had a bad feeling about this mission for a long time now. Surely the Sith must know that we would seek to destroy the artefact if we ever found out what it really is. It must've been one of their most closely guarded secrets. The fact that it was so suddenly discovered, along with all of their other plans as well. Some of them decade long affairs, even… All of this just seems way too convenient, somehow,' he said.

Sylvi didn't know what to say after such uncharacteristic openness coming from her master, and it didn't help that she wasn't privy to the whole story yet. 'Maybe it was just a coincidence,' she said, as it was all she managed to come up with on the spot.

'Maybe,' Korben said, clearly unconvinced.

The ship shuddered and a small fighter aircraft detached itself from underneath the hull. It veered off on autopilot after dropping clear of its mothership, heading towards a pre-programmed set of coordinates. Sylvi turned to face Korben and gave him a questioning look.

'Just as a backup. Let's hope we don't need to use it,' he replied with a reassuring smile. 'Set us down over there,' Korben said, pointing at a flashing red mark that had appeared on the holographic map. The designated area contained some flat meadows and fields, next to an old farmstead. It was located on the edge of a forest, some distance away from nearby habitations.

Sylvi did as she was told and steered the ship towards their new target. They touched down on a field nearby a stable. She could see that there were some native animals moving about inside, shifting nervously from the noise and atmospheric disturbances caused by the invisible ship landing outside of their home.

Korben closed his eyes and bowed his head forward, striking a contemplative pose with a hand held at his chin. He was doing it again, slipping so easily into that state of mindfulness. It was a joy for Sylvi to observe him for a while, as she routinely killed the ship's engines and readied the flight-protocols for their next take off.

When the Jedi came back to the waking world she was already done and waiting by the exit, pulling on her boots. Sylvi was still watching her mentor from a distance, as she often did. Korben probably knew of her habit, but had never remarked on it. Sometimes she wished that he would, just to get some sort of reaction from him at all.

'I sense no sentient life-forms nearby, the owners of this farm must be away for tonight,' he said. There was a pause before he continued. 'I hope they don't mind us borrowing two of their mounts for a little while.'

Sylvi followed his gaze towards the stable. What!? Surely he wasn't being serious. She arched her back and crossed her arms. 'Are you really going to make me ride an animal again!?' she asked him with a bewildered stare. Korben was looking back at her, not quite managing to hide a bemused grin behind his hand. 'Can't we just find some decent off-road vehicles or something?' Sylvi continued. 'I think I saw some on the way here, actually. They must have the technology. Anything, really! You know how bad I am with animal transpo…'

During her short outburst, Korben had risen gracefully from his chair and taken a few steps forward to close the distance between them. He laid a gentle finger to her lips and the rest of her complaints were forgotten in sheer surprise and astonishment. Sylvi looked up at her teacher. There it was again, that odd and out of place worry-line on his brow. As soon as she noticed it, it was gone and replaced with his previous amused expression. When he bent in closer, all thoughts of asking him about it vanished in a swirl of emotions.

'Sylvi,' he whispered into her ear. 'How are you going to learn if you always seek to avoid the lesson?' Korben was right there, his smell and presence so close to her. Her teacher backed away and put his hands on her shoulders. He looked down into her eyes, holding her full attention. 'It's important to challenge oneself in areas of weakness. That's the best way to improve and grow,' he said.

She could have reached out and touched him. She very nearly did. The thought of it quickened her heart-beat and brought fresh heat to her cheeks. Sylvi quickly averted her gaze, hoping that Korben hadn't managed to see how affected she was by his closeness. There was no way of escaping his notice, however, and not that she really wanted to.

He craned her neck back up with a finger placed under her chin and she found herself looking up into his eyes once more. His hand traced the line of her jaw to her ear, and then caressed the side of her head. Sylvi closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. Korben's fingers eventually found the braid behind her right ear, where his hand froze. The two of them stood like that, together in silence for some time before she dared to open her eyes again.

Her teacher appeared to be deep in contemplation again. He had averted his gaze, and Sylvi was unsure of what to do next. Her thoughts were racing too quickly. All of this was more intimacy than she had ever experienced from him before. She wanted more. She wanted him to do… something, however improper it might be.

Their eyes found each other again, and Korben broke their silence. 'You've been a very good apprentice to me, Sylvi,' he said. His voice had a sombre streak to it, and he followed the length of her braid in his hand. 'I want you to know that our years together have been some of the best in my life. I have no doubt that you'll become a great Jedi one day.'

Sylvi didn't know what to say. This was such strange behaviour, coming from him. Very odd. Korben didn't wait for her to reply, though. He simply turned around and strode away towards the exit of the ship, leaving her standing there all alone in stunned silence. What had he meant by that? It couldn't have been a confession of love, could it?

Before there was any more time to reflect on what he had just said, Korben called to her, his voice echoing with a shout from outside the ship. 'Come on now Sylvi, there's no time to dawdle! Let's saddle these boys up, and get our mission over with.'

The command dispelled her trance, and set her scurrying for the rest of her equipment.

Focus on the mission, Sylvi, she thought to herself, focus on the mission. She would have plenty of time to ask Korben what he had meant once this blasted artefact was dealt with. 'Sure! I'm on my way!' she shouted back, and hurried after him.


	2. Chapter 2, Predators on the Hunt

Darth Raj looked out over the sprawling city-scape. Lights from vehicles streamed to and fro, like blood through dark veins. Streetlights and neon advertisements further lit up the view from his roof-top vantage-point. This was a good night to be out on the hunt. The weather was clear and the white disc of a full moon hung like a beacon in the heavens.

Definitely good signs.

Raj swayed his gaze across the sky. Most of the stars were of course obscured by the light pollution from the city, but he still had no problem spotting the major reference-points he needed to get his galactic bearings. This planet had been a big surprise when they first came upon it. To think that the Jedi Council had gone to such an extreme measure as keeping a whole star-system in the dark to further their goals. What would the Republic Senate think of that move? Hah!

Imagine the power and control to deny the existence of an entire civilisation, however primitive. What a wonderfully sinister idea! Now, if confronted on the issue the Jedi would probably rationalize it as being for the greater good, or some such nonsense. They always do, the hypocrites. Regardless, the astounding prospect of such a thing was almost admirable to Raj, almost.

A signal sounded from where Yun'kor was sitting, fiddling with his various weapons and gadgets. That could only mean one thing. One of their drones must have spotted an atmospheric anomaly somewhere nearby. Finally, some results!

Raj's blood pressure rose at the hint of a new development in this gambit of his.

Yun'kor stood up and stowed his guns, patiently waiting for the report from his probe. He was a big and powerful man, made even bigger in his full suit of Mandalorian armour. A useful multi-purpose tool to have around. Raj had employed the bounty-hunter several times before, and Yun'kor always proved resourceful.

The drone soon arrived, a round little thing, clad in various sensors and instruments. It gave a short blurt of machine noises before whizzing away once again. 'Anomaly detected in search-sector F, seven klicks south east,' the mercenary said. The helmet he wore hid Yun'kor's facial expressions, but Raj could feel excitement rising from his servant and knew that the man must be grinning underneath the T-shaped visor. The Mandalorian lived for these kinds of missions.

'Good,' Raj responded and turned, facing in the direction of the signal. His right eye saw nothing out there in the gloom, but the other one was a cybernetic replacement and could easily pierce the darkness. The real eye had been lost in combat all those years ago, taken by the very man he now hunted. Maybe there would be an opportunity to thank him soon? Raj smiled to himself. He zoomed in and adjusted the filter over his vision, cycling through the various spectra. There! He could see it, the faint vapour trace of where a starship's engines had passed by recently. It was him, Korben was out there!

Raj clenched his fist repeatedly in restless anticipation of what was soon to come. The Sith and his servant had been tracking the Jedi for a long time now, all across the galaxy. It had been tricky, as there had been no shortages of decoys and false trails, but Korben was the one person that Raj would never let slip out of his grasp. They had been relentless in their pursuit.

Raj knew that this was the end of the road. The signs were just too obvious. He could feel the presence of the relic lingering here, somewhere nearby. There was no mistaking it, this was where it had been hidden.

The Jedi were naïve to think that hiding it on a planet like this would do them much good. Sure, he couldn't pinpoint its exact location among so many people, but the solution to that problem was simple. Remove the people. It was just a question of logistics and time. It didn't matter now, though. The plan had worked and the Jedi had taken the bait. As soon as they had entered the system, Darth Raj had made full speed towards this planet in order to get ahead of his pray. To lay their plans for either a trap or an ambush.

'We attack now?' Yun'kor asked.

It was tempting to say yes. To charge Korben's ship and slay him once and for all. This was a sensitive situation, though, requiring delicate moves. There was no point in springing the trap too early, he still needed the Jedi to retrieve the relic from its hiding place. It would take a long time and rivers of blood to find it otherwise.

'Not yet. Korben will still have to collect the relic before he can leave this planet. We should approach unnoticed and leave him a little surprise for when he comes back with it.' Raj was almost certain that Korben wouldn't fall for such an easy trick, but there was always the off-chance. Besides, it did have a certain flair to it. 'We'll need local transportation. Follow me.'

Darth Raj swung himself over the protective railing of the sky-scraper and jumped from the building's edge. The street-lights far down below rushed towards him as he fell through the fresh night air. He focused his mind and used the force to bend gravity around himself. His descent gradually slowed until he landed in a graceful crouch on solid ground. Raj righted himself and began walking down the street. Yun'kor followed shortly afterwards, his jetpack making a much noisier but still effective landing.

They soon found a space filled with parked native land-crafts. 'Something fast, no?' Yun'kor asked. The question didn't even warrant an answer. Raj just gave a curt nod. They eventually honed in on a transport that at least looked somewhat faster than the others. 'This?' the Mandalorian suggested while examining the find, running his gloved hand over the vehicle's top.

'Ey, yo! Get your fuckin' hands off my ride!' came a shout from across the street.

A young man approached them at a jog. He shouted in a language that Raj didn't recognize, but the meaning of it was quite easily understood. It was most likely the proud owner of the craft that Yun'kor was going to claim.

How quaint. The bounty-hunter made to draw his blaster pistol, but Raj stopped him with a gesture. 'I'll handle this. Just get the thing started, we don't have all night,' he said. The Mandalorian nodded and set to work.

The man crossing the street was muscular, heavily tattooed and had a swaggering step to his stride. Some sort of street ganger, then, Raj presumed. He had been standing on the other side of the road, chatting with a lightly dressed woman. The ganger slowed down as he came closer. He turned to shout something over to his girlfriend, who started laughing. 'Aight, nerds. Nice costumes 'n all, but if you scratched the paint on my babe you're in big trouble.' He raised his shirt, displaying some sort of a simple projectile weapon tucked into his breeches.

Darth Raj analysed the situation as another string of gibberish was being blurted at them. Was he really being threatened by this person? The Mandalorian continued his investigation of the vehicle as ordered. He tried to pull on the door-handle. It was locked. When the ganger heard this move he shoved past Raj, to move up to the man who was offending his property in such a crude fashion. 'Yo! I said don't touch it! Fuckin' cospla...'

The rest of his words just died off and the man's jaw visibly dropped when Yun'kor bashed the side-window in. The shocked youth drew his fire-arm and aimed it right at the bounty-hunter, who reached into the vehicle for the locking mechanism of the door. It opened with a click.

The ganger was looking from the Mandalorian to Raj, and then back again in a confused manner. He seemed insecure, the weapon in his hand shaking slightly. Just a poser, then, Raj concluded. Useless to the Sith. A real criminal wouldn't have hesitated to pull the trigger by now.

'What the fuck are you—', the guy started to shout but was cut off. Darth Raj was holding out one arm, controlling the force around the man's windpipe and choking the rest of the sentence away. Enough of this! It was beneath him to have to deal with this primitive rabble. The ganger lifted off the ground, coughing and wheezing in agony. The weapon dropped to the pavement.

When the girl on the other side of the street first noticed what was happening she had laughed and pointed, as if this was some sort of a joke. However, when it became clear to her that the man really was floating above the ground in a dying fit, the glee exchanged into panic. She was screaming, shouting for help. They were causing a scene. Would he have to kill everyone on this street before Yun'kor was done? The proposition was satisfying. Raj was in a good mood after all, now that the plot was moving forward once again.

He threw the lifeless body away with a force-push, and started moving towards the girl. The sound of a revving engine from behind interrupted him, though. Yun'kor had managed to start the vehicle and was ready to drive off.

The girl had run over to the lifeless body of the man and was crouched over it, crying and fumbling with a communication device. She was no threat to his plans in that state. Besides, there was no more time to loose slaughtering helpless sheep.

Raj turned and walked back to Yun'kor, stepping into the passenger's seat. Sometimes life is more painful than death ever could be, he thought to himself with a self-satisfied expression. 'Go,' he told Yun'kor, who stepped on the throttle. They sped away towards their quarry, pushing their newly acquired transport as far as it could go. To Raj it was still slow going. The final confrontation between him and his old enemy couldn't come soon enough.

The landscape rushing past outside the windows was mostly fields and forests around here. That was good, it meant that they would have little more interruption from pesky natives. It was past midnight when Yun'kor pulled over next to the road and checked his holographic map more closely. 'Here,' he said.

Raj opened his door and stepped outside, with Yun'kor following suit.

'There, up by old farm,' Yun'kor pointed. Raj switched the filter on his left eye to stealth detection, and in a heart-beat the landed enemy starship became visible. A wide grin formed on his lips. The Sith put up the hood of his black cloak and started walking towards the ship.

Korben wasn't there. Raj would have sensed his presence long ago if he was. The Jedi would return eventually, though, and Raj would be there waiting for him. Fifteen years of careful planning would come to its inevitable conclusion, right here. The Sith gazed into the night, taking in the scenery. Korben would die here by his hands. The secrets of the Krathoz would be his, and he, Darth Raj, would become the most powerful being in the galaxy!

Magnificent.

'Give him our little welcoming gift, Yun'kor. High yield. Make sure that this ship doesn't leave the ground ever again,' Raj said while pacing on the lawn in front of the property. Yun'kor set to action, scanning for alarms and sensors before rigging up his explosives around the doomed vessel.

When the bounty-hunter returned, he nodded and held up a small device for show. 'One press of button and it explode.' Yun'kor sounded as excited by the prospect of the big blast as Raj was of seeing Korben's expression when it happened.

'Hand it over,' Raj commanded and held out his open hand. 'I need you to stalk in the shadows. I don't think that Korben came here all alone. You'll have to hunt down his companions while I take care of my business.'

'Very well,' Yun'kor said and handed him the trigger, most likely disappointed to miss the satisfaction of activating it himself. He knew better than to argue with a Sith, though. 'Good hunting,' the Mandalorian added, and with a burst of his jet-pack he took off towards the treeline.

Soon, Raj thought. Very soon!

He entered the small farmhouse, to find a place where he could watch over the premises for Korben's return. The insides of the house were as rundown as the outside was. Probably not in use anymore, then, he thought. That suited his purposes just fine.

Raj sat himself down in an old rocking chair by a window and entered a shallow meditation. He would need a clear head for the coming battle, his emotions honed into sharp weapons. The hate and anger for his enemy needed to seethe beneath the surface of his consciousness, ready to strike out at moment's notice. Revenge would be his! Raj thought and started masking his presence in the force.

The trap was set.


	3. Chapter 3, Threats Revealed

Sylvi shifted her position in the saddle once more, to the immediate dissatisfaction of her beleaguered ride. It snorted and threw its head, voicing loud complaints. 'Oh, come on!' she shouted back in annoyance.

She was falling behind again.

The animal she rode either went too slow or not at all. Where was the blasted throttle on this thing!? She waved with her reins and kicked the flanks of the beast, but it didn't have much of an effect. 'Move it, damn you!'

This excursion had been just about as tedious as she had expected it to be. The animals had been grumpy and difficult from the beginning. To be taken out and ridden by complete strangers, in the middle of the night through rough terrain, apparently wasn't very popular for these creatures. Sylvi was struggling with hers, as predicted. In fact, she had been ready to give it all up several times already.

Only her teacher's stubbornness kept her from dismounting and starting to walk. 'Just be gentle and patient with him,' Korben said from up ahead. 'Remember that he's a living creature, not a machine. He deserves your respect and gratitude.' Korben patted the side of his beast's neck, and continued. 'Try to coax him into motion, don't just command and expect to be obeyed.' Korben spun his animal around, making a show of his control over it. 'Just show him your intentions, and he'll follow your lead.'

Easier said than done, as far as Sylvi was concerned.

It was early morning by now. She was well aware that this trip had taken much longer than necessary because of her troubles with the mode of transport. At least they had found what they had come all this way for. The artefact lay in a small satchel slung across Sylvi's back. This dreary mission was soon over.

Finding it undisturbed and safe in its hiding-place had been the ultimate anti-climax of this journey. It looked nothing like what it had been hyped up to be. Just a small statuette of a masked figure, kneeling and staring up at the sky. Sylvi had felt nothing from it, no hint of any overwhelming power. There seemed to be no obvious threat coming from it, either. It was nothing like she had imagined it to be. Yet her master insisted that it was the real deal, so they had taken it and started their slow return to the ship.

Korben had been quiet for most of the trip, only speaking up to offer her some casual guidance in the frustrating practise of beast-riding. Sylvi had been quiet as well, in between her occasional stream of cursing of course.

Something was not quite right between the two of them. It was evident in the way Korben acted towards her. He didn't look her in the eyes anymore. His responses were short and distant, as if an awkward tension had crept into their relationship. 'What's the matter?' Sylvi asked before her better judgement kicked in.

'I don't know. Something's wrong.' Korben replied and brought his horse over next to hers, looking up ahead towards the old farm.

'Damned straight it is!' Sylvi agreed and fiddled with the reins of her animal. 'You've been acting really weird and distant, ever since… you know...' She put up her hood and looked away, too embarrassed to let him see her struggle with the words. 'I mean, what you said before… What did you mean?' she asked.

'Oh, that…' Korben was silent for a moment. 'We can talk about it later.' He smiled her way again and Sylvi's confidence was strengthened, although not restored in its entirety. 'Right now I need you focused on the mission. Clear your mind. What do you sense from up ahead?'

Sylvi strained to push her confusion and emotions out of the way and started scanning the area ahead with her mind's eye, searching the ebbs and flows in the force. It was a struggle and the calmness required didn't come to her with ease. There was nothing there, though. No sign of anything wrong or out of place. 'I sense nothing,' she replied, hoping that it was the right answer.

'Neither do I,' said Korben, and Sylvi relaxed. 'But something is not right, nonetheless. Let's approach carefully.'

They moved up to the stable and dismounted.

Sylvi watched as Korben took the reins of the animals and led them away, to be unsaddled and cared for. Something she was very happy to leave for him to do alone. Instead she walked over towards the ship, glad that this ordeal was finally over.

'Sylvi! Get down!'

The panicked shout from Korben caught her completely off-guard. It was so out of character that instead of doing as told, she turned around mid-walk to check on him. She saw her teacher coming running towards her, hands outstretched as if pushing a cart.

The blast took her square in her back, and threw her face forward onto the ground.

Darkness.

Sylvi blinked her eyes open and came back to a world that spun around her in nauseating slow-motion. Her ears ringed and everything around her was a disarraying mess of smoke and mist. She was on the ground, face down in the dirt. Her body ached all over.

Sylvi grabbed at the grass, as if clawing her way back to reality. She tried to get up but fell down again before getting even halfway there. She looked down at herself to find out what was wrong. Her clothes were singed, bloody and ripped in places. Her body was cut and bruised. All of her limbs were still attached, at least. She was alive, which was a miracle in and of itself, considering how close she had been to the ship when it blew up.

Korben came running over and knelt above her in the scattered debris. The rising sun framed him with a golden halo as he looked down at her. Her teacher appeared to her like one of those angels that some starship pilots sometimes spoke of. Beautiful and utterly magnificent.

Worry and doubt was drawn over his features. 'Sylvi!' he shouted. He held his hands over her, seemingly too scared to touch her. Maybe he was afraid that he might do her further damage if he did? She wanted to tell him not to worry, that she was fine. But the words didn't want to form properly.

She should have been dead. It wasn't a miracle that had kept her alive. It was Korben. Her teacher had shielded her from the explosion with the force. He had saved her life, again. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. They were tears of joy, despite the tremendous pain assaulting her senses.

Sylvi got up onto all fours and coughed in the smoke. She surveyed the devastation wrought on the area. The action caused her head to spin alarmingly again, but Korben was there and caught her in a warm embrace. He held her tightly and she melted into his arms, letting him support her as she tried to collect her wits.

Rays from the sun pierced the swirling smoke, giving the moment a surreal and mystical feeling. Korben's solid presence, both physical and mental, soothed her heart and soul completely. Her resolve strengthened, and she pushed away her discomforts into the sub-conscious regions of her mind. Packed away to be reopened later. It was one of many mind-techniques that she had learned from none other than the man who was now cradling her in his arms. Sylvi's aches and pains faded into the background.

'Are you alright?' Korben asked. There was a slight quiver to his voice, as if he was insecure about something. She had never seen him so shaken before, but took satisfaction in the fact that it was his concern for her that had caused it.

'I'm fine,' she whispered back, her voice hoarser and more ragged than she would have liked.

Sylvi straightened herself and looked up at her mentor. She had hoped to find him looking back down at her, but Korben's gaze was fixed elsewhere. She followed it towards the farmhouse and gasped at the apparition that revealed itself on the steps to that derelict property.

The man was dressed in a black flowing cloak, held apart to reveal a double-bladed lightsaber fixed at his belt. A Sith, no doubt about it. His face was concealed by a deep hood, an inimical red light glowing from within. Sylvi had only met one Sith before in her life, and that man had been thoroughly bound and subdued. This one certainly was not so.

He spoke in a raspy voice that could barely contain a tone of self-satisfaction. 'Ahh, Korben! We meet again, at last.' The Sith brought his hands up to his head and pulled down the hood.

He was human, but his features didn't reveal any specific sign of his origins. He could have been from any number of worlds. A cybernetic eye of strange design, set in his left eye-socket, was the source of the red glow. The man grinned as he unclasped his cloak, letting it fall to the porch of the house. He took a few steps forward, down the stairs and onto the lawn.

'I'm terribly sorry to interrupt your little moment over there,' the Sith said, faking regret in a theatrical manner. He stopped and looked at Sylvi. 'You're carrying something of mine, pup. Now, be a good girl and hand it over, and I promise that no one will get hurt here today,' he said. The Sith warrior held out his left hand expectantly and waited for her to throw him the satchel.

Sylvi could feel her senses being bombarded by the force, trying to lend credence to such an action. He was very strong. Sylvi had to push him back with all of her power, and still almost crumbled. The arrogance of even contemplating using mind techniques on someone also trained in the use of the force annoyed her enough to finally come out the winner. I'm not some push-over for you to manipulate, she thought. Sylvi clenched her jaw and glared at the man who had so brazenly assaulted her.

'Interesting,' the Sith said, and the pressure on her mind lifted. He crossed his arms and stood there in silence, looking at them both with an amused grin on his lips.

Korben set Sylvi back down on the ground. 'Sylvi. Take the artefact and run,' he whispered. 'Go for the backup ship. Find a way to destroy the thing.' Sylvi sat there for a moment, looking up at her teacher as he rose to his feet. He looked rattled, almost scared even. She didn't understand. They were two against one. She was a great combatant, and lightsaber-fighting was one of her greatest strengths. How could she just run off and leave Korben facing this threat all alone?

'We can take him together,' she said and got up as well. She smiled at Korben and brought out her lightsaber. Maybe it was her turn to boost his confidence for once? She liked the idea of that. 'We'll win the way we always do. I go in fighting, claws out with my crazy skills, and you keep saving me from afar,' she exclaimed.

Her smile faded when she saw how pained the expression he returned towards her was. 'No, Sylvi, not this time. Please. Trust my judgement on this,' he said.

"Bu—', she began but was cut off by Korben's raised voice.

'Don't argue, Sylvi! It won't work. Not with this one.' Korben looked back at their enemy. 'I know him. He was a trickster and a cheat back then, I can only imagine what he is now. He will use you against me if we face him together.' Korben was not his usual calm self anymore. He was evidently being very serious about this threat, and that only increased her indecisiveness.

She hesitated.

'You have to go, Sylvi,' he continued as she said and did nothing. 'I have seen this moment in my visions, over and over… Every time you stay and fight by my side, you die. I _cannot_ prevent it, no matter what I do!' Korben pleaded with her.

It was a well-known fact that Korben had the gift of foresight. He had instructed her thoroughly on the subject during her apprenticeship to him. That was why she also knew how fickle and dangerous such visions were to interpret. 'What happens if I go, then?' she asked.

'You live,' Korben said with a meaning look cast her way. Sylvi gazed into his eyes. They appeared so sure and confident. Was this what Korben had been worrying about all this time? He seemed to have made up in his mind that this was the best course of action. She knew that she should trust him.

Sylvi still couldn't shake the worried and anxious feeling she had, though. Her mouth opened to say something meaningful, to voice her concern in some way. Nothing came to her. Who was she to lecture the expert? Instead she reached out and took his hand in hers. 'But what about you?' she asked. It took all of her effort in order to keep her voice in check.

'I'll win,' he said.

The old Korben was back. The calm and collected teacher with everything in control. The Korben that she knew, that she loved. Relief flooded her, and she relaxed somewhat. 'Are you sure?' she asked.

'I am,' he answered.

'Do you promise?' Sylvi asked again, unable to let go of him.

'Yes, now go! There's no time for this,' Korben said. There was little patience left in his voice, and this fact finally goaded Sylvi into action. She picked up her satchel containing their objective and stowed away her lightsaber. Then she took off running towards the treeline on the other side of the fields. She only glanced back once to see the Jedi and Sith facing each other on the lawn in front of the old farm.

Korben was on his own now, and so was she.

It would be alright, she told herself over and over. Korben would win. He had said so himself. She trusted him to stay true to his words, and so would she.

They would both win.


	4. Chapter 4, Woodland Dangers

Sylvi headed straight for the coordinates where Korben had sent the Jedi starfighter. Time was against them now. Since the Sith now knew where the artefact was located, they would no doubt send out more agents in order to claim it. Besides, Korben relied on her.

Was it really a good idea for her to leave him behind, though? Would Korben really be fine on his own? He claimed that he had seen visions of her dying if she stayed and fought with him, so she had done as commanded and left. But what if she turned around and came back again? Would his visions still come true?

Visions of the future were never easy to understand, and even the slightest change to the actual real life event could turn things around in all kinds of ways. There was also a possibility that taking the correct counter-measure against a foretold event, such as this one, would end up being the trigger for it in the first place.

Sylvi was wary that they were making a terrible mistake.

She had never been very comfortable with this aspect of the force. Korben certainly was, though. Since these were also his own visions to begin with, she trusted him to make the right decision. If anyone was qualified to interpret them in the right way, it was him.

Why was it so hard for her to let the issue go, then?

She checked her locator beacon again, to make sure that she was going in the right direction. The starfighter was parked somewhere in the forest up ahead. It was just a small craft, built for one person with just enough room for two if you squeezed a bit. Because it was too small to have an advanced system like a cloaking device on board, it had needed to be hidden among the trees instead.

Sylvi entered the vegetation at the end of the grasslands, and started making her way through the thick bushes. It was slow going at first, until she reached an area of bigger trees where the undergrowth wasn't as thick.

She thought of her objective as she ran, formulating a plan for her new mission. Korben claimed that she needed to dump the statuette in a star to destroy it. Since the fighter wasn't hyperspace capable on its own, there was really just one option to take. The sun at the centre of this system. Straightforward and simple, then.

From behind she could sense the energies of the force building in strength. There was a staggering amount of power being churned around back there at the farm. Korben had been right of course, as usual. The fight over there was way beyond her current capabilities. She would definitely have been a liability to her master if she had stayed.

This forest seemed quiet enough, though.

A slight feeling of discomfort suddenly crept upon her, an itchy feeling running along her back that she had learned from experience meant danger. Alarm sprung into her mind. She was not alone here. Someone was watching her. Sylvi's reaction was immediate.

She spun around and brought up her lightsaber, activating the glowing blue blade in a fluid motion. There was less than a fraction of a second to spare, but she did manage to get her weapon ready just in time to deflect the incoming shot. It was aimed at her torso, which made it very awkward to parry.

As momentum carried her around in a spin she tripped and fell backwards. Before she had even touched the ground, a rapid burst of new shots came at her, but Sylvi was ready for them this time. She was on full alert now. The shots flew away from her in all directions, making zapping noises as she reflected them on her weapon.

Sylvi landed hard on her behind. She was panting, and her heart beat like a drum in her chest. If she had reacted a split second too late, she would have been dead. Sylvi berated herself for her sloppiness. She should have been more careful, feeling out ahead instead of looking back. Of course there would be other hostiles out here, waiting for her.

Sylvi looked to the treetops, searching for the location from where the shots had come. She strained her vision, trying to detect her assailant among the leaves. There was movement somewhere up there in the tree crowns.

She braced herself for another attack, but nothing happened. No more shots were fired and she felt no incoming aggression. Instead, her attacker appeared to be busy disassembling the weapon, stowing the pieces of the sniper blaster in various slots on a backpack.

'Very good, little Jedi!' a man's voice shouted down to her. 'Not bad, not bad.' His accent was strange, unknown to her. It wasn't a Sith, though, she was fairly certain of that. He appeared to be some sort of a soldier type in that armour of his. Perhaps a mercenary. With a screaming discharge from his jetpack he descended, making a practised landing on the mossy ground.

The man started approaching her with arrogant steps.

Sylvi couldn't believe her eyes. Did this guy not know what she was? What she could do? She had just pretty much showed him when she deflected all of his shots from before and survived his surprise attack. With her signature weapon, no less. Most sane people would have caught on and taken off running. With a start Sylvi realised what an embarrassing pose she had landed in, and quickly got up to dust herself off. Even so, the strange man still continued to come towards her.

The warrior was a big and imposing man. Someone like that must be used to intimidating people in this way, she thought. Sylvi was a Jedi apprentice, though. He was the one who should be scared of her. At least if he knew what was good for him. 'Stop right there!' she shouted at him. 'Don't come any closer. Turn around and go back. I don't want to hurt you,' she tried to reason with him.

'Ha!' the warrior exclaimed in challenge. 'You, hurt me? Little Jedi, are you scared?' His advance continued, and Sylvi found herself backing away in spite of herself. She had never experienced an opponent as strangely confident as this before.

Who does this person think he is!? Sylvi had always been annoyed by these arrogant types. Mostly men who seemed to think they could push her around as they wished, either because of her sex or youthful appearance. Fine then, have it your way big guy, she thought, and brought up her lightsaber with a flourish. She ceased her retreating steps and waited for him to close the distance, her weapon humming reassuringly in her grip.

The mercenary stopped a short distance away from her. 'Don't enjoy killing little girls,' he said and pointed at her satchel. 'Throw me thing you carry, and live.'

'Why don't you come and take it? Or are yo—'. Sylvi's cocky retort was instantly cut short as the man charged forward with an explosive burst of his jetpack. He conjured a blaster pistol into each hand as he rushed at her.

He fired.

The shots were cleverly aimed, mostly at her extremities. Their angles made it impossible for her to deflect them right back at their source, so she didn't even try. Reflected shots flew away from her into the woods, burning black holes into trunks and severing branches. As soon as the man closed the distance she struck her blow, expecting to slay her enemy in a single stroke of her lightsaber.

It found only air.

The mercenary changed vector with another powerful jet eruption, flying up into the air and over her left side. As he passed over Sylvi's shoulder he extended his arm towards her. Flames spewed at her from a canister strapped under his armguard.

Sylvi wasn't quite fast enough to avoid it, and for a few seconds her left arm was engulfed in searing fire. She screamed in pain and rolled away from the cone of flames that circled her, almost dropping her weapon in the process. The left sleeve of her tunic was nearly burned to cinders before she managed to extinguish the flames. The scorched cloth crumbled off in blackened patches, exposing the second and third degree burns inflicted on her skin.

The mercenary didn't slow his assault. After whizzing away into the trees he threw three hovering ball-shaped drones into the air. The things immediately honed in on her, firing irregular shots her way. It should have taken her completely off guard, considering the agonized state she was in. Years of practise doing something very similar as a youngling was the thing that saved her neck this time.

Sylvi recognized the danger and started anticipating where to defend herself. Her deflections were good, but this was much harder than she was used to. There were more targets, and they fired faster. The realization of how lethal just a single hit would be also increased the intensity.

The mercenary flew around her in a circle. He occasionally fired his blaster pistols, adding even more complexity to defend against. Sylvi couldn't keep this up forever. Eventually she would make a mistake or get tired. She had to do something to try to get away.

One of the drones passed in between her and the enemy, and she saw her opportunity. Sylvi winced as she pushed at it with her damaged offhand, releasing a shockwave of the force. The drone flew backwards into the mercenary. It hit him on his thigh and shattered into pieces.

Meanwhile, she dodged two more shots from the other drones and used the distraction to sprint away into the forest. She didn't get far before she was cornered by the deadly machines again. Her hunter appeared shortly afterwards, as well, his focus on her regained. There were no more incoming pistol shots this time. Instead he threw three more balls, aimed right at her.

Sylvi recognised the threat with a sense of dread. Grenades.

She focused her mind and crushed the first one mid-air with the force. It exploded harmlessly out of range in a cloud of fire. The second one came too close to risk detonation. Instead she pushed it back at one of the passing drones with a force-push, wrecking both of them in another loud conflagration. The Jedi apprentice was out of tricks when the third and final grenade came at her. She flung herself away to the side, still busy deflecting more shots, fired by the last surviving drone.

The grenade exploded with a deafening boom.

Sylvi had managed to avoid the blast itself, but felt something bite into her right shin. She was hit, either by shrapnel or debris. There wasn't much pain. She had too much adrenaline flowing through her body for that, but it would still impede her movement. She needed to find her balance again, to regain control somehow.

She kept her momentum up and rolled herself in behind what little cover there was available, a large moss-covered boulder. It wasn't much but it gave her room for a small breather. The drone and warrior were out of line of sight.

Temporarily.

The remaining drone soon followed her tracks around the boulder and readied itself to take new shots at her. Sylvi didn't intend to let it get the chance. She put herself into a state of communion with the force and pulled from that vast resource of power. She grabbed the annoying little thing telekinetically and smashed it hard against the rocks, wrecking it in a shower of sparks.

The drones were all gone now, thankfully. The enemy mercenary wasn't.

He was slowly circling the boulder as well, keeping his distance. When he noticed that she was distracted by the last drone, he chose to go in for the kill. He charged, just as fast and powerful as before. This time he had a short lightsaber-like blade ready in his hand.

Sylvi heard the noise of the jetpack, and realised what was coming. She dodge-rolled just in the nick of time. The blade hit the rock and embedded itself right where her head had been only moments before. The warrior pulled it around for another attack, cutting through the stone as if it was made of butter.

Sylvi was on the defensive now, dodging attack after attack. Her injuries were slowing her down, hindering her from making a proper riposte. All she needed was one decent opportunity and she would end this in a single strike, but every time she tried something offensive the enemy stepped inside her guard and made her stagger away to defend herself instead. The Jedi apprentice did have one ace up her sleeve, though.

Sylvi cleared her thoughts and summoned all of the power that she could muster, directing it towards her enemy. She struck with her offhand again, releasing the force-blast through her open palm. The mercenary let out a loud grunt as the telekinetic blow hit him square in the chest, throwing him backwards into the tree branches.

She finally had some space to work with again. There was no way that her opponent could get past her guard now. She held her lightsaber ready in front of her, expecting to get more deflection practice. But it never came.

Instead of blaster pistol shots she heard the screaming of her opponent's jetpack again. Once more the mercenary decided to charge her straight on. Was he daft or suicidal? Now that she was ready and prepared there was no way that he could win. He would never get close enough without being struck down.

Her strike was perfect, flawless in every respect. It should have gone straight through him diagonally, in one clean stroke. But it didn't. Instead, her lightsaber stopped dead on the mercenary's upheld forearm. Sylvi's surprised expression lasted only for a moment, because in the next one she was hit in the chest by the man's open-palm punch.

The force of the blow was so tremendous that it threw her a fair distance backwards, but that wasn't the brunt of it. The palm of his glove was studded with multiple small nails that pierced her skin and delivered a knock-out stun of electricity, straight into her flesh.

Sylvi was unconscious before she even hit the ground.

* * *

She floated in darkness.

Distant thoughts swirled around her in a sea of emptiness, too far away and intangible to read. When reached for they dissipated like misty ghosts. There was no sense of self here, nothing corporeal to cling to. Just a vast expanse of nothing, with some faint points of lights flickering in the distance.

Stars?

There was no centre to her being here. Her thoughts and feelings drifted aimlessly through the blackness like a cloud in the sky. Memories and emotions on the periphery of her misty self were gradually breaking loose, disappearing into the void. She was falling apart.

She?

Her identity was starting to come loose, it seemed. Would the remaining structure of her mind go with it, as well? Death? No, it couldn't be allowed. Victory. Duty. Love. These things mattered more. The core of her being hardened slightly, thoughts intertwining to strengthen the scaffolding of her cognition. The cloud seemed to shrink and collect itself somewhat, collapsing into… something. Her?

Where is this place?

The force was very strong in this strange dimension. It surged all around her in swift currents, growing into a disarraying view once her mind got more focused on it. What had seemed like nothingness zoomed in to get more and more complex, like a fractal weave of consciousness intertwining everything. Each strand was connected to a living being somewhere in the material world. Some of them were thick and strong, while others were impossibly thin. She recognised a few of the big ones. They felt familiar to her somehow.

How did I get here?

Memories flooded into her core, delivering rapid visions of recent events. I'm Sylvi Si'Fei, padawan to Jedi Master Korben Loc. That was who she was, who she would continue to be. The determination of that statement pulsated through her sub-conscious, further collecting the outer strands of what she was.

She examined her surroundings. There was one fibre very close to her that was very easy to recognize. Sylvi knew that it was her teacher, her Korben. Emotions flooded her, heating her with warmth and joy. It strengthened her even further, almost all of herself had been gathered up into that single point that was her identity.

Korben's fibre was twirled up around another, equally thick one. They pulsed in disharmony, both of them trying to quench the other's stream. Korben and the Sith, fighting their deadly battle. She couldn't tell who had the upper hand between them. They were very closely matched. If only she could help Korben somehow, to tip the scales.

Maybe if I can go there in spirit, she thought, and dived herself into the rapid flowing river of force that was Korben. It grabbed at her in a swell of energy, pulling her down and under.

Panic struck her. She was being smothered, drowning in the massive waves of force surrounding her. She burned and ached, straining to pull herself out again. The vast current clawed at her mind, seeking to draw her back in.

In a manic struggle against the tide she got out and escaped as quickly as she could. It was no use. Sacrificing herself would add little compared to the huge pool that was already available to him. Sylvi had to find another way to get out of this.

She couldn't stay here for much longer. Her grip on life was fading. The force of this place threatened to pull her apart, to merge her with the rest of the vast ocean of power. Time was a strange concept in this bizarre dimension, but she knew that there was precious little of it left. She searched through the weave, seeking that one fibre which she so desperately needed. Sylvi's thread, her thread. It didn't take long to find it.

It was instantly recognizable to her. That is me, who I am, what I am, she thought. She repeated it over and over in her mind, like a mantra used to keep herself focused. She dived into it and let it engulf her. Compared to Korben's rushing flood, this was a calm creak. She allowed it to carry her to where she needed to go, towards one of the far away points of lights.

A body was lying there on the ground, sprawled and motionless. She was hovering above it, looking down into a blank and sleeping face. Her face, Sylvi Si'Fei, padawan of the Jedi Order. She still had to remind herself of that fact in order to keep her scattered soul intact. The seams of her consciousness were fraying faster and faster. It was becoming harder and harder to think clearly.

Her physical body was still alive, the connection to her spirit was still there. For the moment she was stable. She could have easily descended into her flesh, and returned to life once more. She wanted to do just that, but caution held her back. What could she do back in the physical world? Her body was badly damaged and so exhausted that she probably wouldn't even be able to rise up, much less fight again. The mercenary would finish her off and take his prize.

She shifted perspective to look his way. He was approaching, slowly and warily. 'Sorry little Jedi,' he said, 'but not smart to pick fight with Mandalorian.'

Oh, Sylvi thought, so that's what he is. She had heard stories about those fearsome warriors before, but had never actually taken them seriously. It appears that she was wrong to dismiss them, very wrong. If she had known about this before the fight, she would have been much more careful. Would have, could have, should have, didn't. There was no point in dwelling on it. She had lost, plain and simple. She had to focus on thinking ahead instead. Now, how could she salvage this situation, and preferably come out of it alive?

The Mandalorian picked up her lightsaber from the ground, where it lay beside her. 'You fought well, little girl. This will have place of honour in my collection.' He fastened the weapon onto his utility belt and dusted his hands. The warrior then brought out a steel blade and kneeled over her comatose form. Oh, no. No, no, no!

Panic spread through her like a shockwave. He was going to slice her throat to confirm the kill. She almost lost grasp on reality in her alarm. She was Sylvi Si'Fei, padawan of the Jedi Order! If her body died now, it would all be over. Death would no doubt shatter her indefinitely. She had to stop him, somehow.

Sylvi focused her thoughts on the man, as he put the knife to her throat. With a surge of the force she assaulted his mind, attempting to pierce it and influence his thoughts. 'She's already dead. This is just a waste of my time and effort. I saw her death throws before. She's gone already.'

The thoughts she injected into his mind fought a silent battle with the hunter's natural instinct to always make sure that his quarry really was dead. This wasn't working. The mercenary was simply too stubborn and hard to convince. Years of practiced routine didn't budge easily. She needed to do something different. Something radical. She had to take some big risks.

Sylvi tried to hold the man's thoughts in confusion, keeping up the mental battle for as long as possible. Meanwhile, she targeted herself instead. She felt for her weak pulse and shallow breathing, finding her tenuous grip on life. Then she began to unravel it. She slowed her heart, then stopped it completely. She smothered her breathing, until that seized up as well.

Her body was truly dying now. The fort that she had built up around her consciousness was crumbling, falling apart in massive chunks. There was no time to loose, she couldn't stay like this for very long. With another wave of the force she dived into the mind of her enemy once more. 'Check her, then. Make sure that she's really dead. Scan her for signs of life!' This was an easier appeal to make, easier for the Mandalorian to accept rather than to simply leave her alone.

The man withdrew his knife from her throat and wandered his gaze from her head to toe, using whatever detectors he had in his helmet to check for her vital signs. She would come up on them as dead, for sure, but still he hesitated. She wanted to scream, but no sounds emerged.

Sylvi was fading fast now, so she attacked again. 'Go on then, check her manually. If I can't feel her pulse with my own blasted fingers then she must really be dead, alright!?' The warrior pulled off his right glove and put his fingers to her neck, feeling for her pulse. He moved so frustratingly slow, and seemed to hold them there for an eternity. Her body was growing visibly pale, the colour of her lips had turned into an ominous shade of purple.

The man's gaze changed to the satchel lying on the ground next to her.

Yes! Sylvi thought, and encouraged him with another mental push. 'Take the satchel and hurry to my ship. Go, go. Go!' The Mandalorian cut the shoulder-strap to her satchel and grabbed it while standing up. He opened the bag and checked the contents. 'Yes, it's all there! Now go!'

Her world was shaking and growing fuzzy. Darkness approached at the edges of her vision. She was losing the fight. I am Sylvi Si'Fei. I am Sylvi Si'Fei. I am Sylvi Si'Fei! She repeated the chant over and over, to steady herself against the mental quakes threatening to tear her apart.

Her enemy glanced back once more, and then took off running into the forest. Yes, I did it! Sylvi needed to return to her body as soon as possible, but she also didn't want to come back too fast and risk being detected again. She stayed among the ruins of her mental fortress for a little while longer, until she simply couldn't bear the weight of it anymore.

That's it! She crumbled, and collapsed back into her dying flesh. The shock of it jolted her vitals back to life and she gasped a violent intake of air, only barely quenching the screams locked in her throat. Pain assaulted her senses from all possible angles. The burns on her left arm, the shrapnel in her right shin, and the aches in her chest. Her cuts and bruises. She couldn't see properly from all of the tears clouding her vision, and the world seemed to swirl like a maelstrom around her. Sylvi crouched into a foetal position, crying from anguish and relief in equal measures.

She was still alive.


	5. Chapter 5, Final Showdown

Darth Raj had been watching the exchange between master and pupil in silent amusement. He could have interfered at any point. He could have charged, or struck out with the force. He could have started the battle already, but he chose not to do so.

This was too interesting to miss out on.

There was obviously something more going on between those two. Something working deep beneath the surface. Feelings that had gone way beyond what was deemed normal and proper in their kind of relationship. Good, he thought, all the more pleasure to be had from severing that bond forever, then. Raj smiled to himself, satisfied with the idea.

His gaze followed the girl running off towards the forests. The Krathoz relic was right there! So close that it called to him, urging him to go after it. To take it and use it. It almost hurt him physically to let it get farther and farther away from him. Let her run for now, he thought, Yun'kor could easily deal with a mere student like her. The man had killed full Jedi knights before, she would be no great obstacle for him.

Once the Mandalorian had the relic he would transport it to the safe location, and then wait there for the Sith to arrive. The ultimate prize would be his soon enough. Korben was the only real threat here, and Raj would take his time to savour this long awaited duel.

He returned his attention to the Jedi, who had walked onto the lawn facing him. He looked calm, collected and utterly boring. Not very different from back in the old days then, Raj thought, sneering in disgust as he watched Korben's proceedings.

The Jedi took off his outer robes and folded them onto the ground in a neat pile. He then seated himself next to the clothes, legs crossed. He put his hands onto his knees and closed his eyes, presumably entering meditation. Things were happening almost exactly as Raj had predicted. The force was a whirling vortex around Korben, him being in the calm eye in the centre of the storm. He was as strong in the force as ever, Raj mused, but it didn't matter.

'It seems that the puppet-masters have seen fit to grant you your very own apprentice. How impressive. I gather that you two have something very special going on, too. I must say, I didn't expect that of you, Korben. Could it be that there's some hope for you still?' Raj mocked his nemesis.

Korben offered no response and merely sat there peacefully on the ground, taking in deep breaths.

'Of course there isn't,' Raj sneered. 'You haven't even told her about your feelings yet, have you? You haven't changed at all. Still keeping the real world at a distance, are you? Fleeing into your own thoughts, clinging to your _ideals_. Oh well, it's your loss.'

Darth Raj was circling his prey, which sat motionless as a statue.

'Was it really wise to send her away, I wonder? This is a galaxy full of dangers, after all,' Raj said, insinuating that there was a surprise waiting for the girl in the forest. This didn't provoke any visible reaction either. 'You're still as infuriating as you always were!' Raj exclaimed with disdain.

He completed the circle around Korben and stopped, facing him. It was tempting to think of the Jedi as weak and helpless where he now sat there on the grass, but the Sith knew that he was just being baited. Korben was at his most comfortable in that position, as battle-ready as anybody. Raj would be a fool to charge into melee at this moment. He would be ripped apart by the force before he even made it halfway there if he did.

Korben still expected to be his superior in the ways of the force. The presumptuous bastard was taking pity on him again! 'Are you just going to sit there!? Do you really have nothing to say to me before you die!?' Raj couldn't have stopped the outburst, even had he wanted to. The Jedi was taunting him, humiliating him. Raj would show him, it was only a matter of time now. He had waited too long for this reckoning, and would not let Korben dismiss him like this. Never again!

Korben's eyes opened in a small crack. 'I wish that it was good to see you again, Nikoro,' he said in a solemn voice. The raw and barely contained hate that Raj felt for the man boiled over at that casual mentioning of his old name. Korben was doing it again. Assuming superiority! Looking down on him! _Patronizing_ him!

Darth Raj focused the dark side of the force and charged a massive blast directed right at the Jedi's vortex of power, pouring all of his pent up anger and frustration into it. It hit the man's defences in a torrent of whirling energy. The awesome strength of the blast even surprised Raj himself. He had almost battered straight through!

Korben was visibly shaken by the display of strength, wide eyed and sweating. Hah! What a sight to see. 'Don't ever call me by that name again, Korben! Nikoro was weak. He died the moment you chose to betray me. The name is Raj now. Darth Raj to you!' He was getting worked up, high on the rush of the dark side of the force and his strong emotions both.

Korben was staring at the ground. Was he scared? Afraid of his inevitable fall? Good, Raj thought.

'You should've struck me down for good all those years ago, Korben. When you still had the chance. My powers have grown tenfold since then. The dark side of the force has made me stronger than ever!' he revelled. Raj pointed at the Jedi. 'I will NOT have your pity this time, old _friend_. You'll beg me for mine!'

Korben remained seated, which prompted another attack from Raj.

The Jedi bent over under the assault, but managed to ward him off once again. 'You see!? It wasn't a fluke, _Master_ Korben. You're no longer my superior!' Raj was pacing in front of the man. 'Come on, then, stand up and fight me as an equal. Belittle me again at your peril!'

Korben raised himself and stood up on unsteady legs. 'You have indeed managed to find power, Nikoro. But I don't agree that you've grown.' The Jedi pushed back at him. Hard. The battle began in earnest now. Telekinetic forces pushed against each other in an invisible grappling match. Neither of them were holding back anymore.

Charred remains of the starship flew through the air, being thrown and diverted. The ground shook with tremors. The force, light and dark, was a hurricane around the two figures on this otherwise placid morning.

A series of loud cracks echoed from behind the Sith. The unmistakable sound of splintering wood. The old house behind him could no longer support the strain it was subjected to and was breaking apart. Raj threw himself to the side, sensing the danger. Splintered wooden planks impaled the ground where he had stood less than a second earlier. More projectiles came at him, but he danced around those as well.

Raj used the force to heave a big chunk of the front façade into place behind him, to shield his back from further attacks. Thudding noises reverberated against his new cover, indicating that it had been a worthy investment of power.

Raj heard more cracking noises, this time coming from either side of him. Korben stood facing the Sith, arms outstretched and face twisted by his efforts. Two big trees, one on either side of the lawn, started tilting towards him.

The Sith force jumped into a backflip, landing on the other side of his improvised shield. He then launched it towards his foe with a considerable amount of force before dashing in a retreat towards the ruined house.

Korben jumped into the air in an amazing feat of acrobatics to avoid the piece of wall coming at him. Meanwhile, the trees landed with a crash in front of the house, only barely missing their intended target.

Raj rushed through the rooms of the house and burst through the far-side wall in a shower of splinters. He turned around and saw Korben coming flying, lightsaber drawn and green blade activated. The man had force jumped over the whole crumbling structure in order to strike at him from behind.

The Sith held up both of his hands towards the incoming Jedi and unleashed a devastating shock of force-lightning from his fingertips. The air crackled and tingled with static energy. Tendrils of lightning enveloped the falling Jedi. Korben was caught unawares and howled in pain on his descent. He crashed down at Raj's feet in a heap, bowed down on all fours under the relentless assault. How magnificent! The object of his hatred grovelling in the dirt beneath him. Hah! You're no match to me anymore, Korben, he thought.

The Sith was so distracted in his reveries that he didn't notice Korben's next move. The Jedi threw down his off-hand into the ground, palm open, and unloaded a powerful force-blast directly into the earth. Grass, dirt and gravel erupted into the air around him, knocking his tormentor backwards and interrupting the crippling force-lightning.

Darth Raj soon regained his balance, but the rat had escaped his grasp. For the moment, at least. When the dust finally settled he found the man standing out in the fields, lightsaber ready in his hand. The emerald blade hummed softly to the background noise of native fauna making their early morning calls. Raj smiled inwardly at what this gesture really meant. 'Ahh, so you admit defeat already?'

The Jedi didn't acknowledge this taunt either.

'Don't you dare ignore me, you bastard,' Raj whispered in a deadly voice.

His enemy just stood there, as if deep in thought. The man seemed unnerved, depraved somehow. Static noises erupted in Raj's earpiece, followed by Yun'kor's rough voice. 'Priority objective acquired. Secondary target destroyed.' Hah! Victory was as good as secured now. He extended his senses and searched the area for the girl. He felt nothing. There was no other force-sensitive left alive on this planet, except for Korben and himself. She was truly dead, then.

'Acknowledged,' Raj answered in his com-unit and beamed over at his enemy. 'It appears that my servant beat yours. How do you feel about that?'

Again, no response. Damn him!

'Don't worry, Korben,' Darth Raj said and drew his double-bladed lightsaber. He held it out in front of himself, first activating one of the red blades and then the other. He twirled his weapon around in a practised flurry, ending up in a duelling stance. 'You'll get to join her soon enough.'

The weapon felt balanced and familiar in his experienced hands. He had always been a top-notch fighter. It was the only thing that he had excelled at back then, before he had been made whole by the dark side of the force.

Korben certainly looked demoralised. He was frowning and staring off into the distance. It was not exactly the kind of reaction you would expect from someone who had just lost a loved one, though. No tears, nor cries of grief, nothing. Then again, this was Korben.

'It doesn't have to be this way, Nikoro,' the Jedi said. 'You were like a brother to me once. I harbour no ill feelings towards you. There's still a chance! You can still come back to the light.' He looked pleading, desperate. Was he begging for his life? How wonderful!

'It is true that we were like brothers once. But I was not the one who ruined that bond. You did! I confided in you. I trusted you! But you sold me out, while reaping all of the rewards for yourself. What kind of a brother does something like that!?' Raj's anger was a constant pressure over his lobes. He could feel his quickened pulse beating in his head.

'What you were doing was wrong! It was against the Jedi code, against our teachings. I warned you to stop, but you wouldn't. You left me no choice.' Korben said.

'You were jealous! Afraid of competition, afraid that I'd surpass you!' Raj nearly screamed now, his rage threatening to break out of his control.

'No, Nikoro. I have only ever cared for your wellbeing.' Korben looked at the weapon in his hand. 'I have never wished you any harm.'

'That feeling is NOT mutual, _brother_. You will die now.' Darth Raj spun the weapon in his hands and charged. The dark side of the force bolstered him like a great wind at his back, carrying him towards his nemesis. Their lightsabers clashed against each other in a series of blows and parries. Red and green flashed around them as they swung their weapons around in flurries and feints.

Raj worked with his whole body, making use of his superior agility and double blades. Korben on the other hand fought in a much more conventional style, guard up in front and vigilant. The Jedi was being defensive, wary of his opponent. He was right to be cautious, of course. Raj had the skill to take advantage of every minor opening that he found.

Morning mists swirled in a shallow cloud around their ankles. The yellow sun had started its climb into the clear-blue sky. A beautiful contrast to the destruction that lay all around them. The two of them danced around big chunks of twisted metal and burned out ship-components, splintered wood and fallen trees. The only structure left standing was the old stable. The two riding-animals were still there, tied to a pole outside of it. The only witnesses to this deadly scene.

The duel carried on back and forth. The sound of their clashing lightsabers filled the air.

Raj had the clear advantage, but he was not in a hurry to press it. This was too much fun. He wanted to enjoy this fully, to savour the fruits of his effort until the very end. His inevitable victory would be so much sweeter if he gave Korben some hope first. Hope that would be crushed under his heel, soon enough.

Korben became more and more offensive as the fight went on without conclusion. Had the Jedi finally regained some spine? Raj made sure not to punish him too much for it, yet. Instead he fed the embers of hope by acting annoyed and tired. It seemed to be working. The pace of the fight shifted, and Raj became the defensive duellist. Now it was just a matter of springing the trap.

Raj chose the moment for his ultimate move carefully. He parried an incoming attack from Korben in such a way that it would be natural for the Jedi to make an overhead strike with his next swing. Simultaneously he feigned a slight imbalance on his right leg, holding out his weapon horizontally in both hands, to appear to be steadying himself. Korben took the bait and swung his lightsaber downwards in an attempt to strike Raj's weapon and disarm his opponent.

Just before the strike hit its mark, the Sith twisted his hands in opposite directions. The central locking mechanism of his customized weapon unclasped, and the double-bladed lightsaber separated into two single ones. Raj brought them apart just as Korben's green blade passed in between them, hitting nothing but air.

Raj then side-stepped in a fluid motion and struck at his enemy with one of his weapons before the man had any time to react to the ruse. The Jedi let out a scream and rolled away. The smell of burned flesh scented the air. It had worked! It was just a superficial wound to the leg, but it would slow him down significantly. The advantage had been Raj's even before this, now it was just a matter of sealing the deal.

Korben seemed to know it too. Heavy panting emanated from where he now crouched, nursing his damaged leg. The man was sweating profusely. 'Come now, Korben. Surely you can do better than this?' Raj insulted his opponent. He started walking towards the wounded Jedi, one lightsaber glowing red in each hand. Korben looked up at the approaching Sith. His eyes were glazed over, deep in meditation to escape the pain. Before Raj had moved close enough to lash out again, the Jedi bolted away.

The sudden action caught Raj by surprise, since he hadn't expected a full retreat. A last defiant attack, perhaps, but not this. The old Korben would never have done such a thing. Had he grown that weak over the years?

His enemy was running towards the stable where the two riding animals were tied up. 'You cannot run, Korben!' the Sith shouted in his wake, jogging after him. The Jedi leapt into the saddle on one of the beasts and kicked it into motion, galloping away towards the fields. 'Interesting,' Raj mumbled.

He knew that Korben was an expert rider and tamer of beasts, and that he favoured such modes of transport. Maybe he thought that he could escape this way. Was he really that delusional? Raj didn't share his enemy's interest or skill in that area, but it didn't matter. The thing with dull creatures like these was that their minds were easy to control using the force. He swung himself into the saddle of the remaining mount and took off after his prey. The animal did his bidding without ever knowing or caring much about why.

They galloped into the surrounding fields, Raj keeping pace with the Jedi but intentionally not closing the gap. There was no point in trying too hard to catch up. Darth Raj had all of the time in the world, now that the relic was found and collected. So long as he kept the Jedi in sight there would be no risk of him escaping, regardless of how long he decided to keep this silly game going.

Korben finally seemed to slow down, however. He was turning his ride around, facing the Sith with his lightsaber drawn and activated. Raj realized what the man's intentions were. Hah! Fine, if this is how you want to die then so be it, he thought. The Sith readied one of his weapons, as well.

Then they charged, like two mounted gladiators jousting for glory. Only, their lances and armour were replaced by glowing lightsabers and the invisible powers of the force. They rode towards each other at full speed. Their weapons, both physical and mental, clashed in a mighty crash as they passed each other, but neither of them managed to score a hit.

They circled around and came at one another once more, in a new powerful explosion of invisible force, again with the same outcome. Raj came to a halt and turned his mount around. The animal's nostrils were flaring and taking steaming breaths. The Jedi was doing the same with his.

This was an enjoyable exercise, but it couldn't go on forever. Korben was going to die here if he didn't do something drastic soon. Raj had never known Korben to be the type of man who ever made any unexpected moves. That was why he definitely expected one to come right about now. It just had to.

Raj examined his surroundings. The way to his opponent was clear, but the Sith had the rising sun in his eyes this time around. The Jedi looked poised and tranquil, as if he was meditating again, steeling himself. Yes, the unexpected move was coming this time around, Raj thought, and he would have to be ready for it.

They charged again, lightsabers held ready for a new strike.

Raj was more focused now than he had ever been in his entire life. Time seemed to move in slow-motion. All of his attention was fixed on the Jedi. Korben's lightsaber was held out to the side, the sleeve of his clothes flapping in the wind. He released the reins of his mount and lifted his left arm towards Raj, eyes closed.

Here we go, the Sith thought, this was the moment. He steadied himself for the incoming force-assault, preparing to defend himself. The force-attack wasn't aimed at him, though. A loud cracking sound and a strangled neighing met his ears. Of course, the beast! Korben had targeted the poor thing he was riding instead of him. That was certainly unexpected.

Raj had very little time to think, and reacted on pure instinct the moment he realised what was happening. As his mount crumbled beneath him, he kicked off with his feet into a handstand, his left hand placed on the saddle. With a final burst of the force through the hand he pushed himself upwards and into the air, snapping the creature's spine in another bone-crunching noise.

Korben's blade arrived a moment later.

The swing that would have taken Raj's head clean off, had he still been sitting in the saddle, ended up missing and cutting through his outstretched left arm instead. Raj spun through the air and threw his lightsaber at Korben's exposed back, as the Jedi rode away from him.

The Sith hit the ground hard. His breath was knocked out of him, and he rolled a fair distance before stopping face down in the dirt. The world was spinning around him. There was a dull ache coming from his left arm. He lay there for a while, letting his senses return to him. Had he won?

It sounded like his opponent's animal was slowing down, and a thud came from where it stopped.

Raj got up on his knees and looked at the stump of his severed left arm, inspecting the damage with a surprised grin on his lips. It ended just after the elbow, cleanly cut and cauterized, courtesies of the weapon that had taken it off. A replacement would be fixed there easily. It was no great loss. He dusted himself off and rose to his feet, shifting his gaze towards his enemy.

Korben's mount was standing out in the field, snorting and stomping, looking mightily annoyed. There was no rider in the saddle anymore. Raj found his opponent lying on his back in the grass, one foot stuck in its stirrup. The Sith limped over to where the Jedi lay and cut him free, releasing the animal which galloped away in fear from the scene of such death and injury.

Korben was still alive, but not for much longer. A big scorch mark stained his clothes on the right side of his torso. The arm on that side was gone, too. Raj's aim had been true. An ecstatic rush of pleasure flooded him at the thought of this glorious victory.

He spared a moment to look for his thrown lightsaber. It was lying a short distance away from the stricken Jedi and Raj used the force to pull it into his remaining hand. 'I won, Korben! You lost,' Raj exclaimed with glee. He crouched down and analysed his opponent's condition. Korben's breathing was shallow, his pulse weak. He had minutes left at the most.

Raj straddled his victim and stared down into sullen eyes that looked back at him. The Sith brought the lightsaber to his defeated enemy's throat. 'Any last words?' he asked.

Korben coughed. 'You've won… the battle… but you've lost… the war,' he breathed in a rough whisper.

Raj eyed the dying Jedi suspiciously. What was he talking about? Was he mad? 'What do you mean, you wretch? I've won it all!'

Korben smiled weakly, teeth red with blood. 'I bought… time. Sylvi will… finish… the mission…' he breathed.

Lunacy. It had to be, Raj reasoned, nothing more than the feverish dreams of a desperate and dying man. The padawan was dead. He had searched for her presence earlier and found nothing. The Sith checked again. Still nothing. There was no other force-sensitive left here besides the two of them.

Was the Jedi making some sort of sick joke at his expense? Better to check in with the Mandalorian, he thought, just to make sure. Raj stowed his lightsaber and brought out his com-unit. 'Yun'kor, come in. Status report,' he spoke into the device.

It crackled back with static. The choppy voice of his servant, under obvious duress, responded to the call. 'Pursued by hostile… trying to shake…' There was an explosion somewhere on the other line. 'Will update later…' The transmission cut off, and Raj screamed in fury.

How!? How was this possible!?

'You told me you killed her!' he shouted into the device before throwing it away. 'She was dead!' He had clearly felt it, or rather, he had felt the lack of her presence after the fact. She had died! Was it possible that she had cheated death in some way? No, not even the most powerful of Sith had that ability. She must have feigned death, then. Used the force to trick Yun'kor, somehow. And him.

Darth Raj seethed with more anger than he had ever felt before. His features were twisted in a grimace of purest vile. The sheer force of his emotions would soon devour his mind if he didn't find an outlet for them.

The Sith directed his wrath down at Korben's weakly smiling face. He looked calm, peaceful. He looked like Korben always did, and that infuriated the Sith even more. 'Nikoro… I forgive you,' the Jedi said softly.

The air around them vibrated and the earth shook from the massive whirlwind of power surrounding them. Raj screamed as he overpowered Korben's last failing defences. Sounds of crushing bones and tearing flesh erupted from the man below him, and the Jedi Master's head disappeared in a crater of blood.

Raj's howling screams continued to echo across the landscape.


	6. Chapter 6, Terror in the Skies

_Get up, Sylvi._

The thought was weak, drowned out in the oceans of pain and confusion assaulting her stricken senses. She should have been dead. She had been defeated, outsmarted and ultimately knocked down. Her mission had failed and the objective was lost. The enemy had won their terrible weapon, and it was all her fault. Because she wasn't strong enough.

Having lost the fight against the Mandalorian hurt her almost as much as her physical wounds did. Her pride and confidence were as bruised and scarred as her aching body. What will Korben think of her?

 _Move, Sylvi._

The memory of exactly what had happened in that strange ethereal realm of the force was starting to get fuzzy, but the reality of it was evident. She was still alive, after all. The incredible amount of pain she felt was a solid reminder of that fact. She had cheated death somehow, and returned back to her wounded body.

 _Come on!_

She was shivering, chilled to the bones. The ground underneath her was hard and cold, slightly damp with morning dew. The rising sun had yet to reach through the canopies of the forest. Sylvi raised herself a bit, wincing in agony. Tears made her eye-sight fuzzy and unfocused. Her throat was parched.

How long had she been out of it? How much time had passed? It couldn't have been very long, surely. Any amount was too much, though. Was it still possible to catch up with the enemy? Could she turn this around somehow? Could she escape failure like she had escaped death?

She had to try.

Sylvi pushed herself into a sitting position, ignoring the protests of her damaged body as best she could. There were no medical supplies here. She had no drugs or bandages with her. There was only one way for her to get back into fighting shape, and it would be very risky to attempt it in her weakened condition.

It took a great deal of effort for her to calm her frayed nerves. Finding the peace and mindfulness required for meditation was an even harder prospect, but she had to succeed. Korben had taught her this trick as well. It involved a clever way to reroute her consciousness around the pain and discomfort of her flesh, essentially shutting it out of her mind. It was useful in many ways as it would give her the ability to ignore fatigue, exhaustion and most importantly physical pain.

It wouldn't last forever, though. Eventually the veneer of calmness would wear off and the pain would return to her tenfold. It would crash down on her hard this time. Sylvi knew from experience that she would pay for this later, with interest. When she had done it the last time it had very nearly hospitalized her, and she had been in a much better state of health at that time. Besides, she had already used simpler techniques to avoid such things today. The pain was there for a reason, too. Ignoring it just wasn't very healthy. This might even kill her outright.

Sylvi pushed those thoughts out of the way. There was no point in worrying about the future. All that mattered now was to salvage the mission. She shut everything out and focused on her breathing. It took even longer than it usually did, but she managed to find it eventually. The peace of mind that she required. Sylvi weaved it into a shell around her consciousness, isolating it from her assaulted senses. Feelings of relief and elation flooded her. This was much better than any painkiller ever could be, but ultimately deceiving.

Strength returned to her weary muscles, and her mind began to lose the haze of anxiety and anguish that it was soaked in. She felt reborn, resurrected in truth. Free and ready to face the world once again. It was a pleasant illusion.

She felt distant too, emotionless. Like her mind was trapped inside a bottle, cut off from the outside world. It was a familiar feeling. The emotional dullness was a common side-effect of the mind trick she had just performed.

Sylvi stood up and dusted herself off, examining her surroundings. The forest around her was quiet and empty. The Mandalorian was nowhere to be seen. In the distance she could feel the mighty clash between Korben and the Sith, still raging strong. She couldn't have been gone for very long, then. That was good, it meant that the mercenary hadn't gone far ahead either. She could still catch up.

Korben's fighter was close by. The best course of action would be to go straight for it and then take off. She could use its scanners to locate the bounty-hunter's ship. It wouldn't be very difficult to pick up such a trace around a world without any other notable space-traffic.

Sylvi started running towards the ship. She found it right where the coordinates said it would be, undisturbed and hidden among the bushes. She reached for her lightsaber in order to cut her way through, but it wasn't at her side.

Oh, right! The Mandalorian had taken it for his "collection". I should probably try to get that back as well, she thought and smiled to herself, remembering Korben's amused expression the first time she had lost her Jedi weapon. 'Seems like I'll have to do this the hard way, then,' she sighed and starting tearing her way through the tough vegetation.

The first thing she did upon reaching the ship and opening the cockpit hatch was to take a sip of water from an on-board canteen. Sylvi didn't really feel thirsty, but she knew that she was. A big issue with escaping your bodily sensations like this was that you forgot about such things. It would still affect her performance, though. She knew that her distant body thanked her deeply for that tiny bit of mercy, even if she didn't feel it.

Her next action was to switch on the scanners and set them hunting for any sign of a passing starship.

As Sylvi waited for the electronics to find the track she needed to pick up the chase, she started dressing her wounds. They didn't hinder her anymore, but they were serious enough already. Ignoring them altogether would only make things worse later on. If things even could be worse, that was.

Sylvi was halfway through bandaging up her burned arm when the ship's computers chimed for her attention. She hastily tied a knot on the cloth and swung herself into the cockpit, bringing up a map with the fresh information displayed on it. There he was! Moving out of orbit, towards another planet in the system.

All right, let's do this! Sylvi thought and closed the hatch, flicking switches and pushing buttons to get the Jedi starfighter ready for flight. Her take-off was swift and easy, and then she let the autopilot carry her towards the target.

Sylvi brought up the statistical information she had available on the planet that they were heading towards. None of it looked any good at all. The world appeared to be a veritable pressure cooker. The thick atmosphere and runaway greenhouse effect resulted in an extremely hostile combat condition.

This day was just getting better and better!

The reason why the Mandalorian had chosen that planet was obvious. It was the perfect place for him to hide in. The atmosphere would conceal his ship from most long-range sensors and it would prevent smaller ships without proper shielding to intercept him. Ships like hers.

This is going to be a close call, Sylvi thought. It was a stupid idea to fly a small fighter into such an environment to begin with, let alone fight there for any length of time. What choice did she have, though? If she waited too long in orbit he would have reinforcements coming, for sure. Then her chances would be even slimmer. Twenty minutes, maybe a maximum of thirty. That was all she had to work with here. Her little fighter probably wouldn't hold up for much longer than that.

Sylvi sped on and was catching up quickly. The Mandalorian must have thought that he was safe already, since he was merely trundling along in his much bigger, heavily customized Mantis-class vessel. She reached extreme firing distance just before he started his descent into the planet's atmosphere. There was still no indication that he had seen her. Didn't he even bother to check his sensors? Even her tiny ship should have been picked up at this range.

'Let's see how much you like this then!' she said and fired off all of her ship-to-ship missiles. They would be useless under these planetary conditions anyways. She might as well try to hit something with them.

They didn't hit.

A panorama of explosions lit up her front view. Her enemy must have been ready for the attack, because every single missile was shot out of the sky. A return gift came towards her from the other ship. Missiles as well, however these ones blew up on their own right on her trajectory. Small pieces of debris now cluttered her approach to the planet. Mines.

They were tricky weapons to avoid. If her ship had been any bigger she would have been in trouble. She would probably have had to abort the pursuit in order to change vector. The starfighter was agile and manoeuvrable, though, and it could handle it. Sylvi had dealt with such traps before and weaved her way through the explosive charges with ease.

Meanwhile, her quarry disappeared down into the thick atmosphere of the planet. Sylvi fired off a quick salvo of her blasters, mostly as a taunt. Then she followed her prey into the opaque clouds. It was going to be all about careful aiming with her energy weapons from here on in.

The ship jolted and shook as it descended, and her shields were strained to their maximum in order to deal with the hostile climate. Ship sensors flared temperature and pressure warnings. Alarms went off beeping and flashing, filling the cockpit with pulsating red lights. New warnings appeared on her monitors. She was coming in too fast, generating too much frictional heat from the thick atmosphere. 'I know, I know,' she muttered to herself. 'But I need to catch this guy, all right…'

Sylvi couldn't see much outside. The sulphurous clouds obscured her view. Her tracking software was going haywire as well, unable to function with so much interference. She didn't need such tools, however. This world was completely sterile except for the two newcomers. It wasn't hard to sense her target here with the force. A clear advantage that she had over her opponent.

Her ship eventually pierced the thick cloud cover and levelled out.

Sylvi had reached low altitude, and the vista that opened up to her was anything but inviting. Scorched rocky plains, cracked by large fissures and volcanic caverns. The ground was covered in sulphurous outcroppings and jagged rocks. A large volcano was spewing out ash and lava over in the distance.

She could see her target visually now. Her daring descent had worked to reduce his lead. She didn't waste any time, if she could see him then he could see her. She fired her weapons in short bursts, leading her target manually. 'Shut up with the beeping already!' she shouted at the ship's computer. 'I need to focus…'

The machine didn't comply.

Her shots didn't find their target either. The Mandalorian evaded them masterfully in his much bulkier ship. A flurry of shots came back at her. Sylvi reacted in time and avoided most of it, but a few shots managed to hit her already damaged shields. 'Blasted!' she cursed.

The mercenary was flying close to the ground, using the planet's surface as cover whenever he could. They flew through canyons and across rocky plains at suicidal speeds. This wasn't working. Sylvi would never win this war of attrition in her much more fragile ship. She had already stayed here for longer than comfortable.

A desperate plan began to formulate in her mind. She fired a new burst with her energy weapons. It went far wide, but this time on purpose. The shots hit exactly where she had meant them to hit, cracking a huge pillar of sulphur right in front of her enemy. The mercenary was definitely a good pilot, since he managed to react to it just in time and avoided the falling pillar, but the only way for him to go was down into a great lava cavern. It would be difficult for him to manoeuvre down there. She followed him close behind, still avoiding incoming shots.

She just needed to score one more hit!

Sylvi spotted another potential trap as soon as it entered into view. She fired purposely to his right, urging him to veer left. Then she aimed and shot at another pillar that she hoped would support much of the cave ceiling. It did.

Huge rocks came crashing down on top of the enemy ship. Its shields evaporated immediately when struck by the massive boulders, and one of the left side engines blew up in a fiery conflagration. The Mandalorian still managed to stabilize his ship. A lesser pilot wouldn't have survived that hit, but at least he was limping now.

The chase continued into a great open caldera. Lava flowed in glowing rivers down below and the air was filled with acrid smog. At least there were no cave walls or other obstacles within reach anymore. That was a lucky thing for Sylvi, since she completely lost touch with reality for a moment.

She sensed it immediately as it happened, down in the primal reaches of her mind.

Korben had been with her for so long. His supportive pressure on her mind was so familiar, she knew by instinct that something was wrong, very wrong. Even over such a vast distance she was able to sense the disturbance in the force.

The fight between the Jedi and the Sith had been a constant background to her force-senses. Now it was changing, one side overpowering the other. Korben's presence in the force pulsed softly and in the next moment it was gone, snuffed out. Sylvi knew exactly what that meant, she had felt it happen to others before.

No!

The shocking realization came crashing down on her. Not even the protection wrapped around her mind could shield her from this calamitous revelation. That the love of her life had just died. That Korben was gone.

Sylvi's crying began in painful gasps, her throat so clenched up that she could barely get enough air to her lungs. Her breath came in short and wet sniffles in between mournful exhalations.

No, no, no. This couldn't be happening!

Tears formed at the corners of her eyes, running down her cheeks in streams and clogging up her view of the outside. She wiped them away with one hand, barely managing to keep the ship flying with the other. Sylvi didn't care. None of it mattered anymore.

Sylvi wanted to scream, but all she managed to produce was a faint whimper. 'Korben, no…'

She couldn't think properly. This wasn't real! All that went through her head was that Korben was dead, repeating as if on a broken record. For every loop it plunged her further and further into hopelessness.

A cold sweat set in along with her panic. What had gone wrong? Was it something that she had done? An action she had taken that had changed the course of events. Or had Korben known all along? 'You promised!' she shouted, finally managing to wrest control of her voice.

How!? Why!? She demanded in her head, you told me you would win…

Sylvi knew that she shouldn't feel this way. She was a Jedi apprentice, soon a full Jedi knight, even. It wasn't proper to be so upset, so hurt. She should have been above such emotional outbursts. Her teachers claimed that she should rejoice for those who pass away to become one with the force, that grief and mourning were selfish and greedy feelings. Dark feelings, that could lead you down a dangerous path. Sylvi knew all of that, but she just couldn't help it. The Jedi way of solemn remorse escaped her.

This was Korben. Her teacher, her mentor. The man that she loved. Her crying didn't cease.

Sylvi had fallen far behind her quarry by now. The Mandalorian had exited the caldera and sped away onto a great rocky plain, flying low and fast. Getting farther and farther away. Defeated thoughts filled her mind. It was all over now. The enemy had won. She cast a jaded glance down at her monitors and the screaming warnings that they produced. She would join Korben soon, apparently. She had failed.

Sylvi thought of the urgency of the mission. The seriousness of Korben's expression as he had explained it to her. How many millions would suffer because of her mistakes? How many people would needlessly die? Guilt and shame battered at her shielded mind along with everything else.

Her thoughts shifted back to Korben and she held them there tightly, as if afraid that she would forget him if she didn't. His smile and the sound of his voice, summoned from her recent memory. All of the good times and their achievements together. It broke her heart to think that it was all over, that she would never get to see him again.

Ever.

Was it really OK to give up without a fight, though? Korben had gone down fighting, shouldn't she at the very least do the same? Korben had believed in this mission. He had believed in her. How could she let his death be in vain?

No, it wasn't over yet. Not while she still drew breath. A flame of anger ignited in her mind, fuelled by her doubt and insecurity. It was all their fault! The Sith and their wretched henchmen. They had killed him! They had ruined everything! They all deserved to die for this. New energy surged into her muscles, a new purpose awoken from deep inside of her. She wiped the rest of her tears away and steeled herself, her thoughts pulsating with anger.

She could still see the enemy way out ahead. The atmosphere was clearer out here on the plains. She probably didn't have any time left to catch up again. The enemy ship was still within extreme weapon range, though. It was an impossibly hard shot to land, but what choice did she have?

She closed her eyes and entered meditation like she had been taught by Korben. It came to her surprisingly easy given her current condition. Her anger gave her the purpose and stability needed in the face of her frayed nerves. She clung to it and welcomed the ordered chaos that it delivered.

The world moved slower, more fluidly. Her senses were clearer, more accurate. Thoughts whirled around her in violent harmony. She noticed them as they appeared in her consciousness, and could easily pick them out or discard them at will.

Sylvi focused all of her attention on the tiny speck up ahead that was the Mandalorian's ship and then charged up her main batteries of energy weaponry. His shields must be as strained as hers, but she would still need a direct hit with overloaded blasters in order to do sufficient damage.

She listened closely to the screams and protests coming from her monitors as she pumped as much energy into the weapons as she could spare. Sylvi led her target far ahead, predicting his speed and picturing his flight pattern in her mind. She didn't use any electronic aids for this, choosing instead to trust in her instincts and feelings. The force guided her aim.

Now!

The fighter jolted as the blasters fired. It's monitors and instruments all went black and dead in her hands. Both her speed and altitude dropped alarmingly as all of the ship's power was rerouted into her weaponry. Time seemed to stand still as the pulse of energy rushed across the landscape. Then came the huge flash.

Blinding light filled Sylvi's vision and she shielded her eyes with her arms. The shockwave hit her a second later with a deafening clap, knocking her little ship right out of the air. She spun and bounced against the ground, generating a foreboding screeching sound as rocks gnawed against her metal hull. She came to a sliding stop out on the plains. Smoke from burned out electronics filled the cockpit. Her shields were out cold, her engines dead.

Silence.

Sylvi's own strained breathing was the only sound that reached her ears. She lowered her arms from her head and opened her eyes. The blast had cleared the smog in a large area all around her. There was a small crater out on the plains in front of her ship. A new addition to the planet's geology. No natural impact had created this one. The mercenary's ship was no more.

The shot had been aimed true. She had done it! Maybe overdone it, even. The shot must have hit some critical component that had gone nuclear, possibly the star drive or energy source. One thing was certain, though. Her enemy was dead.

Sylvi should have been solemn about that fact, but she couldn't help feeling immense satisfaction to have taken out revenge upon her tormentor. An uncontrollable fit of laughter claimed her. 'Sorry little Mandalorian, but you shouldn't have picked a fight with an awesome Jedi like me!' she quipped.

Her high lasted only a few moments before the gravity of her situation and the fact of Korben's death started flooding back to drown her in misery once again. She regretted her outburst. It was petty and displayed a lack of control. Korben would have frowned on it and she felt genuinely ashamed.

Sylvi did a quick check up on her ship's systems. She obviously had cabin pressure and life support, since she would have been very dead otherwise. Power was out and the starfighter was running on backups only. The fact that her ship had been shut down by the energy weapon overload had probably saved the core-systems from being completely fried, as well.

Sylvi hurried to get her engines and controls back up and working. She needed to leave this place as soon as possible. The horde of warnings and alarms that met her when she succeeded made that very obvious. It was a miracle that this battered thing could still take to the air, but it did. She took off again and started circling the blast site. Had the explosion been enough to destroy the artefact? Was the mission completed already? Probably not.

But how would she find it in this mess? She scanned the area visually, since none of her ship sensors worked anymore. It would be impossible to find it like this, she concluded. Maybe with the force? She hadn't felt anything from it before, but it couldn't hurt to try.

Sylvi extended her senses to search the area for something, anything really. She found nothing at first, but then there was this soft tingling feeling in the back of her mind. It was slight and weak, but she could definitely feel something strange, like nothing she had ever felt before. She sought it out among the scattered debris, trying to identify the source of her feelings. It was there, sublime but real.

She reached out and touched it with the force, dragging it towards her ship. The small statuette came into view. She pulled it closer to the cockpit hatch and held it there. It was scorched and blackened but otherwise undamaged. Small and insignificant like she remembered it from before but very different to her force senses.

It felt amazing to hold it there, exhilarating. All of her worries and duties were forgotten in a rush of pure ecstasy. Her mind started slipping away, very similar to what had happened before in the strange force-realm.

No, she thought, this wasn't right. I'm Sylvi Si'Fei, padawan of the Jedi Order. She repeated those words to herself, over and over, trying to escape the sense of drowning that threatened to claim her. Sylvi was staring at the thing. It enticed her, exhilarated her being. She was panting, her heart beating heavily in her chest. 'No. Stop it!' she screamed and managed to avert her eyes from the statuette before slipping away completely.

Korben had been right. The artefact needed to be destroyed, fast. It was dangerous, unsafe. How could the Jedi Counsel not have done this sooner? Why had they let this dark thing survive for so long? Were they blind!?

Sylvi could still feel the nefarious presence of the relic. It was right there, gnawing at the edge of her mind. It took all of her effort and concentration just to shut the thing out. She held the statuette tightly against the hull of the starfighter as she took off into space.

The ship protested violently against her steep climb. The manhandled fighter was scorched and bruised, much like herself. Most of its sensors had burned out. Few of the non-essential systems still functioned properly. The poor thing would most likely have to be scrapped after this adventure.

As soon as she cleared the planet's gravity-well she plotted a course towards the star at the centre of the system. It was the only way to get rid of the cursed thing, apparently. Even if it might not destroy it outright, at least it would be out of reach from anyone who might want to use it. Sylvi had been sceptical that it was really necessary, but she believed it now.

The yellow glow of the star was growing bigger in her view as Sylvi got closer, so she tried to activate the light filters on her cockpit windows. They didn't function, of course. Instead she shuffled through a compartment under the flight instruments and pulled out a worn pair of pilot goggles. They were funny looking things of old leather with round lenses. At least the glasses were shaded.

The goggles had belonged to Korben. He had looked ridiculous in them, and she remembered how she used to make fun of him for it. He had countered that you couldn't trust everything to technology. They had laughed and smiled together.

Sylvi wiped away the tears that had returned unbidden to her eyes, and put on the goggles.

All she had to do now was to release her hold of the statuette, and then steer clear of the star. A simple thing to do in theory, but as she was about to let go of it she felt resistance. It wouldn't let her do it. The thing pulled back at her with the force, just like she had done to it a moment ago. It was creeping towards her, slithering into her mind. 'Let go of me!' she shouted.

Sylvi felt the foul presence of something alien and very malevolent. Something dark and evil. She was straining against it as hard as she could, trying to pull herself free from it. 'Please,' she whimpered. It was in her mind, sifting through her thoughts. Its horrible taint sickened her and she hurled. The Jedi apprentice fought desperately for control, crying and screaming.

It wasn't possible, she resigned, and the jaded curtain of defeat settled around her once more. I can't do it, she thought, I'm not strong enough. Maybe she should just plunge into the star along with it? If she didn't do anything else soon she would have no other choice. Sylvi was hurt and exhausted, punished and on the verge of defeat. It was the only way that she could win this.

 _No! You cannot give up._

I have to, she surrendered.

 _Never give up!_

There's no other way, she replied.

 _Open yourself and live!_

Fury and anger at this desperate situation burned brightly in her besieged psyche. With a vicious flare of strength, she pushed the thing away, shoving it towards the blazing sun. Her force connection to the statuette severed.

'I will NOT let you defeat me!' she screamed in a voice not her own.

The release shook her mind and she felt dizzy and faint. Sylvi collapsed exhausted in her seat, only narrowly managing to steer the ship away from the radiant star before the dark veil of unconsciousness fell over her weary senses.


	7. Chapter 7, Afterword

If you got this far: Thank you for reading!

I would be happy to recieve some feedback, since I wrote it as practise as well as for fun.

Maybe there will be some more of it in the future.


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